The Shadow Collection
by SilverShadowFin
Summary: Slice of Life bits covering the life of Blake Belladonna - a daughter of political leaders, a former member of a terrorist organization, a future huntress... But above all, a survivor. Any Blake-centric one-shots gathering digital dust in my digital desk drawer may find themselves here. 'Shadows' is now a part of this collection. CONTENT ADVISORY: Abuse, because of Blake's past.
1. Shadows

**This is just something I threw together in a couple of hours to melt away my persistent writer's block. Enjoy, as much as the subject matter can be 'enjoyed'.**

Blake, without thinking, picked up the letter opener and brought it to Yang's throat in one swift motion. Yang, more startled than threatened, took a step back.

"Blake."

The faunus stopped. Her face, until now an emotionless, focused void, contorted into a look of utter horror. The letter opener clattered to the floor.

"Yang! I-"

The raven-haired girl was struggling for words. Her partner smiled weakly.

"Sorry… I guess I shouldn't have-", the blonde apologized.

"Don't do that.", the faunus replied, interrupting Yang.

Yang's weak smile faded, replaced by a look of confusion.

"Don't do what?"

"Apologize for doing something completely normal.", Blake replied, her voice tense.

"If it was completely normal, you wouldn't have-"

"Well, I just did!", the raven-haired girl shouted.

"Blake!"

Yang looked at her partner in the eye. Her violet eyes pierced through whatever inner storm the faunus was going through.

"Blake, I… I'm not gonna say I get it, because that's impossible. I have some idea, though."

"Oh, yeah?", the faunus replied defensively.

"Even seen anyone run their fingers through my hair? You haven't, because is someone tries, I'll beat them until their aura breaks."

"What does that have to-"

"You think I've enjoyed the Vale underground night life without running into some seedy types?"

Silence fell between the girls.

"Yeah. You don't need to apologize to me. I'm not a complete stranger to what you're going through.", the blonde finished.

Blake looked at Yang, her face reflecting a mix of intense emotions even the faunus herself couldn't quite identify.

"Yang. I attacked you. I- If you didn't have aura..."

Yang looked at Blake, determined and serious.

"But I do, and you knew that. Besides, you didn't even touch me. I don't even want to think about _why_ kissing your neck sets you off like that, but…"

Yang caught herself before threatening harm on someone she didn't even know, someone Blake may or may not have cared about.

"...but I'll never intentionally do something I know makes you uncomfortable."

Blake sighed deeply.

"Please, don't do that."

Yang couldn't help laughing.

"What did my dumb ass do wrong this time?"

Blake shook her head.

"Don't write off something just because that asshole-"

Blake's voice broke. Insted of saying anything, Yang simply waited to see what Blake would do next. After a few moments, the faunus continued.

"For him, getting close to you was a way of controlling you."

Yang felt she already knew who 'he' was, but chose to focus on another, likely no less sore, detail.

"Getting close?", like literally-

"Physically and emotionally. He manipulated me for a good while.", Blake replied, her voice dark and tired.

"Want to know the worst part?", the raven-haired girl continued.

"I'm here for you, Blake. Always.", Yang replied.

"I actually thought..."

Blake's words got caught in her throat. Yang saw the tears in her girlfriend's eyes.

"I was stupid enough to think he actually lo-"

Blake couldn't finish the sentence. Still, Yang had heard enough.

"He did. I saw it when he...", Yang said, motioning to her prostethic arm.

Blake, wiping the tears, looked at Yang with a mix of confusion and a hint of anger.

"How… could you know that?"

"Attacking you was personal to him. It wasn't a revenge against a former ally. It was… deeper than that."

Blake caught Yang looking at the scar on her side.

"I hope that wasn't a pun."

"Sh- No, not this time, I swear.", Yang laughed. "Anyway, he loved you, in some way. No one puts that much effort into revenge unless they've been hurt really, really badly."

Blake stared into space.

"Loved me?", Blake asked, her voice tense and challenging.

Blake's implication was clear, but Yang wasn't sure how to approach the question.

"He… wanted to be with you. You really gave him something he wanted, something he needed."

Yang was hoping Blake would finish the thought herself. The blonde didn't have the heart to voice the conclusion.

"Isn't love supposed to mean you care about the other person? Wanting to posses something isn't exactly love."

_Thank you, Blake._

"Yeah… you're right.", Yang sighed.

The blonde herself couldn't help thinking back to the attention she'd received on the romance front. It was almost always about her body. That, and maybe the humor. Always about what someone could get out of her, not what they could give her. There had been a couple of guys and one girl. Those three were probably the only people who'd really cared. Them, and Blake. The faunus now sitting on the bed next to Yang, still in her t-shirt and panties, truly cared about the blonde.

Blake slammed her fist on the bed.

"Blake?", Yang asked carefully.

"Am I an idiot or is he a manipulative asshole?", the faunus asked.

"He's charming. He's good at making people believe in what he does. That's his whole deal, right?", Yang replied.

Blake punched the bed again.

"So… I'm the idiot who fell for a manipulative asshole.", Blake asked, her voice dark.

"You believed in what he was doing. Hell, equality for the faunus _is_ a good cause, that's a fact.", Yang replied.

"I should've just told him no when… when he-", Blake hissed.

"You ran away from home. It was him, you, and the Fang members under his command. Your camps were in the woods in the middle of nowhere, right?"

"Yeah… most of the time. Why?"

"Tactical question: would you keep fighting a known enemy or run away if you knew you were surrounded by grimm-infested forest?"

Blake sighed.

"Keep fighting… Until there's a way out.", the faunus conceded.

"And that's what you did."

Blake stayed silent for a moment.

"How much do you want to bet he knew that? That I couldn't escape? That I'd put up with whatever he did. That I'd convince myself he loved me the same way I loved him."

Yang couldn't answer. Had Blake's drive to help the faunus been taken advantage of? Had Blake, a sixteen-year-old, been taken advantage of by a terrorist leader in his twenties? Yang didn't know. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Remember when I told you he… changed at some point? First it was no killing...", Blake started.

"Then it was an accident. Then self-defence. They deserved it. They'd do the same to you. Does it matter as long as the job gets done? Yeah, you've told us.", Yang replied.

"There's something I didn't tell you.", Blake stated.

_Oh, no._

"Yeah?"

"I think it was eating at him, too. Something was happening to him. He needed… Something. He needed me. He never showed to the others, but he'd just hold me. He'd go over what had happened on the mission, or try to forget. I talked it over with him. At first he was… disqusted with the deaths. Said we're better than that. I really tried to help him. Then… I was just a body pillow he'd hold to feel better."

Yang was starting to feel physically sick.

"Then the deaths stopped bothering him. It just became a ritual for him. For both of us. After a raid, he'd hold me, kiss me… That's when I started to get scared of him. If he killed so casually, what could he do to me? I loved him. But I was scared of him. I loved him. But he'd become a monster. He hadn't just distorted what the Fang stood for. He'd lost himself. He wasn't the Adam I'd fallen in love with. I think he realized that too. That's why he was holding on to the one thing he still had. Me. That's when I started trying to find a way out."

Yang stared at Blake, unable to find words. A knock on the door saved her from having to try.

"We need to get going. Terra says it could take you an hour to get to the tower, and Weiss' flight leaves in ninety minutes."

Ruby wasn't even trying to open the bedroom door. It was lucky, because Yang didn't have any innocent explanation for the door being locked, and Blake wasn't ready to tell the team yet.

"Ten minutes. I need to check my weapons, just in case.", the blonde hastily replied.

"Okay, meet us downstairs. J.N.R. should be ready in a few minutes. Maria and Qrow are downstairs.", Ruby shouted, walking away from the door.

Instead of going downstairs, the young reaper headed for the bathroom. After the conversation she'd just accidentally witnessed, she needed a few minutes.

_Take care of her, sis. She needs someone right now. She needs you._

Ruby could only think of one silver lining to what Blake was going through. Team R.W.B.Y. would probably never have to see Adam Taurus' face again.


	2. Scars

"Don't!"

"B-blake? Wh-"

Blake shivered and sighed in frustration. Sun stepped back, taking his hand off Blake's shoulder.

"Wh-what happened? Did I-"

"No! I-"

Blake practically growled in frustration. Sun shuffled back on the bed. He looked the black-haired girl in the eye. She was fiddling with the the zipper on her top, clearly unsure what to do. For a moment the blond just watched and waited. Waited for Blake to explain, to help him understand. The raven-haired beauty remained silent.

"Blake, talk to me.", Sun begged.

The blond's voice was firm but gentle, much like his touch, as Blake had discovered.

"Dammit..."

The young woman suddenly let out a humorless laugh.

"Would you believe me if I told you my past hasn't been all sunshine and roses?"

"A splinter group of the Fang tried to torch your childhood home. You were attacked by the leader of that splinter group not too long ago. I'm going to say... yes. Yes, that's just about the most believable thing ever."

Blake couldn't help smiling. Sun was always like this. Stupid jokes, looked like a clown on the surface... but if you really needed someone, he was always there. You could count on it. Someone else had... made her believe the same.

Blake's expression shifted from worried to... sad? Exasperated? Sun couldn't tell. It was rare to see Blake show such strong emotion.

"Adam... Adam. Adam!"

Blake grabbed a corner of the blanket and squeezed it in her fist.

Sun watched Blake with her improvised stress ball. One man, Adam Taurus, as he's found out during his time in Beacon, was responsible for, well, a lot. Sun wasn't sure what to say. He actually know what Adam was to Blake. Besides a constant source of strife, of course. Blake didn't talk about her past much. Had Adam really been a 'good guy' in the beginning? The one the faunus needed to make things happen? Had he been a villain from the start? It was a dicey topic so...

"Fuck him.", Sun heard himself blurt out.

Blake raised an eyebrow at Sun, seemingly amused.

"I wouldn't, but feel free."

Sun gasped, only able to stare it Blake. Man, that had been such an asshole thing to say! And she'd just made a joke!

"Blake... I get it, you don't want to talk about it. You'd rather none of it ever happened. I don't need to hear about the past. Just... what did I do just now?"

"My top..." The girl paused.

Sun waited for a moment before lightly prodding for more.

"Yeah?"

"Ever notice everything I wear covers my neck?"

Blake was fidgeting. Sun had learned to read her body language, and she wasn't just uneasy. She was looking for a way out. The physical, 'grab everything and jump out the window into the night' kind. The kind she was very proficient with, and would use to in an instant if she felt threatened.

"I... actually hadn't until just now.", Sun confessed, playing up the cluelessness with a goofy smile to put Blake at ease.

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well, it's something I've done for years. Ever since I... ran away from home. Ever since I ran away from my parents, basically."

Sun was about to ask for clarification but Blake continued.

"Two weeks or so after I'd joined Adam's... group, we were in an inn in southern Anima. I went downstairs to get something to drink, because I was naive and stupid."

"How was that a prob-"

"Think about it. You just saw the house of the leaders of the old White Fang get attacked. My parents. I've never been some nobody faunus girl. I've had a target on my back my whole life."

Sun opened his mouth to say something. He kept forgetting how much weight the Belladonna name carried, even after seeing it firsthand. Blake cut him off even earlier this time.

"Some guy at the bar was being a bigoted asshole. He was ranting and raving about how he'd hated his trip to Kua Kuala, how he'd only put up with 'the animals' to look good at work-"

"What the fuck?"

Sun's voice was cold and angry. He'd heard more than his face share of bigoted remarks but it never got any easier to hear.

"Exactly. Me, still a total idiot, went up to him. I can't remember what I said, but I was angry. He quickly smashes his beer bottle on the bar, then takes a swipe at me."

Sun gulped.

"I still remember how startled I was. He was drunk but… When he stood up, I realized I'd made a mistake. Didn't look like he'd only fought grimm, either."

"Crap."

"Well, it should be obvious by now I'm not a great judge of character.", Blake scoffed. "Still… As good as this drunk is, I've been training to fight all my life. I thought for sure I could hold my own. My parents always thought I needed to able to defend myself. They've done a lot for the faunus, but they've made a lot of enemies too."

"House on fire was a bit of a clue.", Sun interjected. Blake glared at him.

"Anyway, out of nowhere, two guys stand up and grab a hold of me. Drunken bigot slashes before I can get free. And-"

Blake paused, punching the bed. Sun had a nasty feeling he knew where the story was going, and it sickened him.

"He got your neck.", Sun stated.

"He did. Blake replied, her voice cold. "Asshole thinks he's taught me a lesson. I see red." Blake paused for a moment, looking Sun in the eye. "I was going to kill the guy. I was going to rip his throat out with his own broken bottle. Thinking back, I realize our bodyguards were probably the only thing keeping something like this from happening earlier, on Menagerie."

Sun flinched. Blake was an incredibly good fighter. One of the things Sun liked and respected about Blake was the way the feline faunus always seemed to keep her cool, no matter how bad things got. She, as many mistakes as she'd done, was rational. Sun had come to know Blake as a thinker. The thought of the young woman on a bloody rampage was terrifying. Blake was right: the guards the Belladonnas had surrounded themselves with hadn't just kept people from hurting Blake. They'd probably kept an angry, rebellious teenager from hurting people. Still, in her first fight with no backup, Blake had gotten hurt. It was hard to believe the warrior sitting next to him had been so vulnerable once.

"I honestly don't remember it, but Adam apparently held me back and took me upstairs to my room."

"Wait, Adam? He'd been there the whole time?"

"I honestly don't think so."

Blake sighed.

"Or at least, I didn't. Knowing what I know now... He was probably lurking in the shadows, watching me."

"No fair. He stole your thing!", Sun joked.

Blake gave Sun an incredulous look. It slowly dawned on the blond just what he'd said. Opening even more old wounds was the last thing he was trying to do.

"No... What's not fair is him making me exactly like him. That's where he really started it. He said I should wear battle scars with pride, that humans deserved to see what they'd done, and faunus needed to see what humans were doing."

Chills were running down Sun's spine.

"I don't know why but that sounds so, so creepy. Like he was…" Sun paused to think of a word. "was-"

"Shaping me. Slowly molding me into the mascot his group needed, and erasing the Blake that would only get in his way.", Blake quietly finished.

"That's-"

"He didn't need me for my skills. I mean, he used my training, yeah. I was a useful weapon to him. But that wasn't why he recruited me. He wanted the Belladonna name."

Sun raised an eyebrow.

"He… what? What do you mean? I thought he brought you in for your fighting skills."

Blake cast a look at Sun. The annoyance was showing all over the young woman's face.

"Isn't it obvious? The daughter of the Belladonnas, the daughter of the White Fang leaders, was going to be his right hand. That meant his group must have been important. A Belladonna wouldn't associate with a group unless it really worked for the future of the faunus."

"Oh..."

"No Belladonna except me and my dumb ass.", Blake spat.

"You believed in what you were doing. You believed the faunus needed to stand up for themselves."

"I thought we needed to show humans we weren't pushovers. That we weren't inferior. That we could take what we wanted. I believed my parents, with their patient diplomacy, were weak and slow."

Sun noticed the warrior's voice was wavering.

"You love your parents.", he stated plainly.

Blake let out an angry hiss, air slowly escaping between her barren teeth.

"I do. I love them to bits. And somehow they say they love me. I betrayed them. I betrayed everything the Belladonna name stands for. I let them down, and I hoped they'd hate me for it."

"Less emotional strings tying you down if you convince yourself you've already lost everyone that matters.", Sun observed.

Blake carefully glanced at Sun. He was wearing a peaceful expression. What he'd said was just an observation. There was no judgment behind the words.

"Reading me like a book, huh? You think you've figured me out. You think you can fix me or something. I'll disappear on you like I've disappeared on everyone else.", Blake challenged quietly, her voice somber.

"Worth it.", Sun grinned.

Idiot.

"Idiot.", Blake said out loud.

"Seriously, Blake. I have no freaking clue what the future holds, but today I'm here, with you, because I want to be. Ghost me tomorrow if you feel like it. Worth it for the time I've gotten to spend with you."

Blake, despite her best attempt to remain stoic, found herself blushing.

"Sun... I don't trust people. I can't trust people. I don't know if I can make real friends. Or..."

Blake paused.

"Or?"

"Or anything more than friends. It feels like I'm leading you on. I'm just going through the motions, like you're just another mark I need to seduce."

Sun watched Blake. He wasn't offended. He wasn't even surprised. Again, Blake continued after a moment.

"I'm broken. I know that. I keep the scars hidden but under the surface..."

Blake unclasped the neck piece of her top. A long, jagged scar extended from the front of the girl's neck all the way to hear right ear. Sun stared at it, unexpectedly transfixed. The shape reminded him of lightning. Fast, powerful. Just like the woman wearing it.

"It's kinda epic.", Sun observed.

Blake turned to the blond, her eyes suddenly filled with rage.

"Don't mock me.", Blake hissed, her words dripping with venom.

Sun shook his head.

"Get a lightning tattoo to cover that if you need to put the past behind you. Just don't hide the war wounds. You fought for what you believed in.",

Blake, still fuming, laughed. Her voice was dry and mocking.

"I was recruited by a fucking terrorist group."

"To be fair, a lot of humans suck. You fought what you believed in.", Sun repeated.

"You're a thick-headed fucking idiot."

"The scar didn't scare me away. Calling yourself an ex-terrorist didn't scare me away. Insulting me won't scare me away. If you're going to run away because you're deathly scared of revealing your true self, you're going to have to do that yourself. I'm not leaving. Oh, and I promise you right now your fears won't come true. I'm not going to hurt you. Not on purpose. My dumb ass will probably do something at some point, but it'll be because I'm clueless."

Blake shook her head.

"Idiot."

"You keep calling me that."

"You keep doing idiotic things.", Blake replied.

The raven-haired beauty was still cold and defensive, obviously, but warming up. For a moment, Sun watched her. Blake's eyes were shifting around the small room. She obviously didn't know what to do now that someone had challenged her. Sun decided to keep pushing.

"What would you do if I kissed you?", the blond asked.

Blake sighed.

"Try it and find out."

Sun, without hesitation, leaned over to Blake. Getting thrown through the window would be a small price to pay to show Blake he was there for her.

"If you tell me to stop and fuck off, I will. If you look like you're uncomfortable, I'll stop."

Blake pulled Sun closer.

"Shut up and distract me from this shit before I change my mind."

Sun, instead of kissing Blake's lips, kissed her neck, on the right side. When he pulled back, Blake was staring at him. The faunus girl was speechless.

"What did you just-"

It was Sun's turn to cut Blake off.

"You're beautiful. Every part of you is beautiful."

"You-"

"I'm breaking all the rules today, so let me ask you this: did any mark you seduced get to see your neck?"

Blake rolled her eyes.

"You try to break literally all the boundaries, I will kill you with my bare hands."

She sighed before answering the blond's actual question.

"Some saw it. It was a great way to get their trust. Show them something hidden, something intimate. Make up a story about how I got it in battle."

"How do I know you're not just telling me a sob story right now?", Sun joked.

"You don't.", Blake replied calmly.

Sun laughed.

"Should have seen that coming. I-"

Blake cut the blond off, kissing him on the lips.

"Never change. Idiot."


	3. Mirror, Mirror

Weiss was fiddling with the belt on the bathrobe, not meeting Blake's eyes. Blake didn't know what to say, and simply closed the cabin door behind her.

The faunus put the neatly folded pile of white clothes on the desk by the bathroom door.

"These are finally dry. Are you sure you're going to be okay?", she asked.

The Schnee slowly lifted her gaze from the belt, but still didn't meet her teammate's eyes, letting her eyes wander on Blake instead. Her outfit was uncharacteristically casual. The raven-haired woman was wearing a dark purple robe, a wide black ribbon tired around her waist. The style, especially the ribbon, was more reminiscent of Anima than Menagerie. Another black ribbon, meanwhile, was conspicuously absent, and Weiss had noticed. Blake's midnight black cat ears were standing proudly on top of her head. Weiss was looking at them, but for the time being, didn't voice the question obviously on her mind.

"I'm fine now. A Schnee dying of hypothermia would be... preposterous.", Weiss replied, her voice sounding tired and hazy.

Blake hummed, a small smile betraying her usual emotionless expression.

"That would be quite something."

The purple-clad woman walked over to the desk at the far end of the cabin.

"How are _you_ doing? The water was not exactly warm, and you jumped in wearing not much more than a sleeveless top.", Weiss asked.

As if to answer the question, Blake lifted the tea infuser ball from the glass tea pot on the desk.

"It… wasn't the most enjoyable swim I've ever had. I didn't expect lake Matsu to be this cold in the middle of summer.", the faunus replied, pouring the steaming hot beverage in a glass.

Weiss shook her head.

"Blake, it's ocean water. Despite the name, Lake Matsu is an inland sea. The largest one in the world, in fact."

"I… know that." Blake took a deep breath, fiddling with the tea cups. "All I saw was a cargo ship hitting the lake. I know exactly how quickly an aircraft can sink after something like that."

Blake half expected Weiss to ask. The other girl remained silent.

"In any case, Weiss, I'm fine. Herbal tea? I can't really handle caffeine this late."

"Blake, I watched you make that. I know what it is. And yes, I'll absolutely have some if you're offering.", Weiss replied.

Blake glanced behind her. Weiss was still looking at her.

"Something else on your mind?"

"Did they tell you how the pilot is doing? I need to thank him. I'm fairly certain he saved my life.", the former heiress asked.

"He's fine, just a little banged up, both physically and mentally. It could've been much worse. The cockpit window was still above the waterline when I got there. If the front had sunk faster… His flight suit kept him warm at least. You're the one who… wasn't quite prepared.", Blake replied, casting a meaningful glance at Weiss' finally dry clothes.

"Well, excuse me for not factoring in a forced water landing due to a queen lancer attack.", Weiss huffed in feigned indignation.

Blake let out a soft, forced laugh. She had enough experience to know what would have happened had Weiss not jumped from the low-slung cargo hold as it hit the water. Swimming out as tons of water rushed in would have required extraordinary strength and focus, even for a hunter.

"Sorry. I… I'm just still surprised by all of this.", was all Blake said.

_And relieved __you're__ alive._

"Still, of all the places in in the world for us to run into each other ...", the faunus continued, handing Weiss her tea.

"I feel like I should be the one saying that. We're practically halfway across the world from Kuo Kuana.", Weiss pointed out.

"We're just as far from Atlas… or Vale.", Blake replied.

At the mention of the de facto capital of Sanus, both girls just stopped, just staring at the desk by the window. Neither one knew quite what to say. After a few moments, Blake spoke up.

"I suppose I... owe you an apology. Our whole team, but especially you. For that day. For the nightmare I left you in.", Blake said quietly.

Weiss sighed.

"That's right… you don't know."

Blake looked at Weiss, confused.

"My- I mean, Jacques Schnee… he came to get me the next morning. I… I wasn't there for Yang. I wasn't there for Ruby, my partner. I wasn't even there for Pyrrha's funeral."

Blake felt her blood run cold. She'd tried to forget the truth. To run from the fact that she ran. Now, to hear that Weiss had been forced to leave as well...

"You did what you had to do. I… I watched that airship take off from the Beacon docks. I remember being confused. Civilian traffic had already been grounded then."

Weiss let out a derisive laugh.

"Jacques Schnee is above the laws of us mere mortals."

It didn't escape Blake's attention that Weiss had referred to her father by his full name twice.

"In any case. Weiss. I watched from the rooftops all the way in Vale. I should have been there. I should have been there for you. For them. For the team."

"You did your best. You did _something_. I was simply dragged around like a puppet on a string.", Weiss retorted.

"The only thing I _did_ was abandoning you and the sisters.", Blake said, her voice hollow.

Weiss patted a spot on the bed next to her. The moment Blake sat down, Weiss' slender arms wrapped around her. The faunus saw a single tear escape the woman's eye.

"It was an unwinnable situation. We didn't know if Ruby- We didn't know if our team leader would... choose to continue as a huntress.", the Schnee heiress began.

_That is not even close to what you were going to say, Weiss._

"Ruby was unconscious. Yang was injured. You had gone through a traumatic experience, and I certainly didn't have the skills to support you through something like that. Or the empathy.", Weiss reasoned.

Blake's eyes snapped to the former heiress and she opened her mouth to protest.

"Blake, they call me 'the ice queen' for a reason. I don't… I didn't know how to handle my own feelings, let alone support someone else through theirs. Doing what you needed to to protect yourself in that moment was the right decision."

As much as Blake disagreed, she focused on another detail

"Didn't? Past tense?", she asked.

"After returning to Atlas, I… I suppose I saw who I'd been raised to be. And realized I detested the image looking back at me in the mirrors of that mansion. Beacon… Team R.W.B.Y. You and the sisters helped me. Helped me become a better person. Less cold and heartless. Less of a Schnee."

Blake waited. She wanted to point out that Weiss was exaggerating, but letting the former heiress open up about her family uninterrupted seemed like the right choice.

Soon, it was like flood gates had been opened. The two had been back in each others' lives for maybe three hours, and now Weiss was quietly sobbing against her teammate's shoulder. Blake listened to Weiss cry. Blake listened to Weiss talk about the flight to Atlas, the stifling isolation, the torment she'd had to endure from both Whitley and Jacques Schnee.

"Quite honestly, I could have almost put up with all of that if it meant seeing my sister again."

"But you-"

"Never saw her. She never comes home, it seems. I can't bring myself to blame her, to be perfectly honest. I would never again set foot in that mansion if I had a choice myself. There is a good chance I never will."

On one hand, Blake wanted to point out that Weiss was being a little over-dramatic. On the other hand, Weiss Schnee rarely spoke without meaning exactly what she said, and the life she described did sound like endless torture.

"I don't think anyone could blame you. That all sounds… terrible."

"Oh, you've heard nothing yet, Blake."

The faunus was full of silent rage before her friend even got to the party, the house arrest, or the fact that Jacques Schnee had disowned her.

"-and eventually I found myself on a cargo flight from Mantle to Mistral. It is amazing how well you can, in fact, sleep in a hard, cold cargo hold of a freighter. All you need to do is evade Argus cargo handlers and customs agents in the confines of said freighter for two hours."

Blake couldn't help letting out a small chuckle. The fact that Weiss still had a sense of humor despite the hell she'd gone through was a good sign. Lifting the former heiress' spirits, if even just a little, seemed like a good idea. She got up and poured herself another tea.

"Now imagine doing it without the pilot knowing.", Blake calmly teased.

Weiss looked at Blake, her teary eyes now wide in shock. The rebel looked back the fencer and smirked.

"You did not.", the former heiress challenged.

"About two years ago. Atlas to Vytal. More tea?"

"From _Atlas_? Blake Belladonna, you are crazy.", Weiss replied, aghast.

"Says the woman who just spent almost three days evading Atlesian authorities before hiring a smuggler to leave the continent. Did you even have a plan for when you got to Mistral?"

"I-", Weiss mumbled, trying to distract Blake by giving her a tea cup to fill.

"Oh Weiss, what would you do without us?", the faunus asked, pouring tea into Weiss' cup.

Blake laughed quietly, watching through the small window as the sun's last rays danced the on waves.

The white mage wiped away the remnants of her tears before answering the question with a question.

"Is… is there still an 'us'? Is there still a team R.W.B.Y.?"

Blake went quiet, buying herself some time with another long sip of tea.

"I hope so. I'm sure the sisters are recovering fine. We'll hear from them soon enough."

The faunus knew full well not a single thing she'd said was certain to be true. The sisters, if they even could send letters from Patch, didn't have an address for either Blake or Weiss. Blake seriously doubted mail addressed to the Schnee mansion would ever have reached Weiss. It was hard to imagine how Yang could recover from what she'd been through. From having been touched by Blake's world for no more than a few moments. Ruby was surely feeling a thousand time worse, having to live with the image of Pyrrha's defeat. The last Blake had seen of the red reaper had been an unconscious, apparently comatose girl being taken into an air ambulance. Blake could only hope Weiss' view of everything was, if not positive, at least slightly less bleak than her own.

"Do you actually know that?", the Schnee asked.

_Weiss Schnee. In your most broken down, vulnerable state, why do still have to be so sharp?_

"Not for a fact, no.", the activist answered honestly.

Blake could feel the girl laying against her take a long breath and hold it in for a few seconds. This was Weiss Schnee desperately trying to calm down. Blake draped her hand over the white-haired woman's shoulders and started to idly trace figures on her back with her index finger. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Blake found herself watching the lake. Moonlight glimmered on the relatively calm water's surface, and reflections flickered on the ceiling of the cabin. To Blake the silvery-white reflections looked like Weiss' hair. The former heiress' breathing was slowly calming down.

"You know what I do know, though?", the faunus finally asked quietly.

Weiss didn't reply immediately.

"What is it?", Weiss asked cautiously after a few moments.

"On Menagerie, after the dust had settled, I promised myself I'd never leave team R.W.B.Y. again. I promised Sun I'd find all of you, and… make things right, if you'd still have me."

"Sun? Sun Wukong? How is he involved in this? And what do you mean by 'after the dust had settled'?"

It was Blake's turn to fill her teammate in on what had happened after she'd… left Beacon. Her slow, careful journey south, to the southeast coast of Sanus. The boat ride where she'd discovered Sun had… followed her. Letting Weiss' shock slide, she told the story of what had occurred in Kuo Kuana. Ilia, Cosaic and Fennec Albain, the attack on her parent's house…

"Gods… Blake, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I can't fathom what could possibly possessed Sun to do something to blatantly idiotic, but I am so glad he was there for you."

"He can be a reckless fool, but when you need a friend, he's there for you.", Blake replied, smiling and slowly sipping her tea.

"So you've become good friends?", Weiss asked, putting just a tiny little bit too much emphasis on the last word.

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Just friends. Don't get any ideas. There's nothing there."

"I… see."

Blake watched Weiss watch her. There was silence for a few moments. Blake got up and put her tea cup down on the desk.

"Did you wish there was?"

Weiss' voice coming from behind her confused her. She turned around to face her friend.

"What-?"

"You'd just lost your team. Gods only know what you'd lost before that accursed year. Did you… even wish you had someone?"

Blake was baffled. Where on Remnant was this coming from? Then, looking into the blue eyes, she saw it.

Loneliness. It was written all over the former heiress' features.

"Weiss."

Blake sat back down next to her teammate.

"Yes?"

"Back to that promise I made…"

"Yes? What does this have to do with my question?"

"You're my teammate."

Weiss tapped her fingers on her knees, clearly impatient.

"Yes…?"

"It feels only right, in some perverse way, that when Jacques Schnee lets you down, it's a former White Fang fighter on the way to _stopping_ the Fang who says this…"

Blake took a dramatic pause, sipping her tea. Weiss was now openly glaring at her.

"Blake, please get to the point."

"You can count on my support. You're my friend. You might as well be family to me, as crazy at that sounds.", Blake declared.

If Weiss was shocked, she didn't show it. After a moment of contemplation, she replied.

"I know what you mean. Ruby, Yang, you… you are all practically family to me. After the few months we've spend together, you quite honestly mean more to me than my so called father… or even my sister. I'd never felt so loved in my life. So… safe."

Blake didn't know what to say. She'd just been comforting a friend. She hadn't expected her teammate reply with something so… profound. A small part of her suddenly realized something. There was a small, flickering, faint light of hope growing inside of her. She might not have to run again. She could keep going, surrounded by people she could trust. Surrounded by love.

"Blake?"

Weiss was holding the faunus, her arm draped over her friend's shoulders. Blake hadn't realized it, but her eyes had glazed. She still wasn't going to cry. Blake Belladonna didn't cry. She was just feeling a little overwhelmed by emotion.

"This is going to sound so, so stupid… Even worse because of… what we've done. Who we are. How we just met out of nowhere, too.", she said to Weiss.

"Out with it, Blake.", Weiss gently jabbed, rolling her eyes.

"I need you guys. I was an idiot to leave. I… I love you as much as I love my parents. And I..."

Blake choked on her words.

"And I won't run away from them _or_ you again. I'm… I'm so sorry, Weiss. Sorry for everything."

Weiss put her empty teacup down on the desk and pulled Blake close.

Weiss was simply holding Blake.

"The girl you're talking about… the girl I've come to know. You know what she sounds like?", she asked her teammate. Her friend.

Blake's cat ears flicked towards Weiss. That was good enough for the other girl.

"She'd always been, for a lack of better word, incomplete. She'd been what someone else had expected of her. A mascot for a cause. A cause that may have been misguided, despised by many, and not even chosen entirely by herself.

She's always had a mission, a goal passed down to her by her family. The biggest thing missing in her life had been… not necessarily people, but people she could trust. People who didn't associate with her simply for her status. More than anything, she'd always been lonely. So, so lonely, simply because there was no one to connect with, no one she could come close to trusting. No one, until team R.W.B.Y. came along, until she met the two crazy sisters… and a mirror image of herself."

Between hitched breaths that absolutely were not sobs, Blake laughed.

"That… is the cheesiest, most cliché thing I've heard in a long time."

"It made you laugh.", Weiss challenged

"I didn't say you're wrong.", Blake stated softly.

"What?"

Blake watched the waves, smiling softly. Weiss' furrowed brow was too good to let go of right away.

"Do you honestly think it was a coincidence that Ozpin put us in the same team? The heiress to the Schnee empire. A would-be leader of the White Fang. On the same team. The whole idea is insane, right?"

Weiss stopped. Well and truly stopped.

"He wanted us to see each other. Really _see_ each other for who we are, not what we supposedly represent.", Blake continued.

"He- the scheming old man. He must have known-", Weiss sputtered.

"That beyond all the politics, we're just two lonely teenagers, looking for our place. A purpose."

"And he gave us one.", Weiss finished, staring out the window at the light of the fragmented moon casting its reflection on the rippling waves. A flawless reflection of something broken and a broken reflection of something flawless were, in the end, no different from each other.


End file.
